Sweet Potato Oatmeal

One of my all time favorite vegetables is sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes seemed to have somehow been relegated to only being covered in obscene amounts of sugar, marshmallows and pecans for only 2 days a year. Sweet potatoes are actually fantastic cooked in savory ways — such as roasted and seasoned with some chili powder and paprika.

Sweet potatoes do lend really well to sweet dishes though and learning to use them outside of Thanksgiving and Christmas side dishes will definitely make your tastebuds happy.

This oatmeal is sightly sweet, slightly savory and slightly salty. All 3 flavors perfectly meld together to make one hearty, stick to your ribs breakfast. I intended to make this using pecans and maple syrup, but my husband used all of my pecans in a trail mix and I forgot to grab maple syrup at the grocery store. Salted pumpkin seeds (or pepitas) and a little brown sugar worked beautifully. Feel free to use maple syrup and pecans instead, if you have them. This dish is also easily made vegan by substituting butter for coconut oil and the little bit of cream for some nut milk or a nut based creamer.

This recipe is for two portions, but it can very easily be multiplied or divided. Baking the sweet potatoes takes a little time, so toss them in the oven first thing in the morning and they’ll be ready by the time everyone is awake and ready to eat.

Wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly and pierce with a fork multiple times. Place them in a baking dish, drizzle with oil and bake at 400F for 1 hour — or until very soft and tender.

Remove from oven, cut open and scoop the insides into a small bowl. Add butter, cinnamon, ginger, salt, brown sugar and cream and stir well. Taste and add more cinnamon, ginger or salt to suit your preference. Set aside.

In a small pot, bring water, almond milk and butter to a low boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat to medium-low and stir in oats. Cook, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has been evaporated — 5-7 minutes.

Divide the oatmeal between two bowls, swirl in the sweet potato mash and garnish with the pumpkin seeds.

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I’ve done my oats so many ways, but never thought about using sweet potato – makes perfect sense though, now that I’m reading through this recipe! Love the addition of the ginger and pumpkin seeds, too 🙂